By Bill Wyman, not the Stones ex-bassist but the rock journalist active since the early 80s. (The Stone Alone once had a lawyer send him a letter demanding he stop calling himself Bill too but the journo kept his byline.)

All 214 groups and solo artists in the RockíníRoll Hall Of Fame are ranked by Wyman in the piece, best to worst. Iíd disagree with most of the rankings, starting with his putting the BBs at 51. But Iím linking to this not because of his rockcrit ramblings but because he interviewed a number of the people involved with the Hall over the years, right up to Jann Wenner himself, and what they have to say sheds considerable light on why and how some artists got into the Hall and others didnít. So itís worth scrolling to those parts.

By Bill Wyman, not the Stones ex-bassist but the rock journalist active since the early 80s. (The Stone Alone once had a lawyer send him a letter demanding he stop calling himself Bill too but the journo kept his byline.)

All 214 groups and solo artists in the RockíníRoll Hall Of Fame are ranked by Wyman in the piece, best to worst. Iíd disagree with most of the rankings, starting with his putting the BBs at 51. But Iím linking to this not because of his rockcrit ramblings but because he interviewed a number of the people involved with the Hall over the years, right up to Jann Wenner himself, and what they have to say sheds considerable light on why and how some artists got into the Hall and others didnít. So itís worth scrolling to those parts.

Apologies to rn57 for my rant, as I know it wasn't your intention to turn this into another RNRHOF smear campaign, but they just make it so darn easy

I'll respect anyone's opinion on the matter, but as soon as I saw Nirvana at #8, I was immediately turned off.

Then, to see RUN DMC and Public Enemy ranked ahead of Jerry Lee Lewis, Pink Floyd, The Kinks, Johnny Cash, Ray Charles, The Who, Springsteen, and The Beach Boys!!!

One of my friends sent the link yesterday to me and another friend with the subject line "you boys like getting mad?"

That more or less says it all.

It's kind of a clickbait exercise, a time-tested way to get everyone to read and then talk about an article, as no two lists will ever be alike ... and usually not even similar. (For example, like KDS I was annoyed to see Nirvana so high, and I'd add the Sex Pistols as laughably overrated, yet he and I would argue about the definition of rock and roll and whether rap merits a spot, not to mention no doubt over the merits of even many "pure" rock bands.) So I try not to say much about these things. Because, really, why? My blood pressure is fine. I'd like to keep it that way.

One of my friends sent the link yesterday to me and another friend with the subject line "you boys like getting mad?"

That more or less says it all.

It's kind of a clickbait exercise, a time-tested way to get everyone to read and then talk about an article, as no two lists will ever be alike ... and usually not even similar. (For example, like KDS I was annoyed to see Nirvana so high, and I'd add the Sex Pistols as laughably overrated, yet he and I would argue about the definition of rock and roll and whether rap merits a spot, not to mention no doubt over the merits of even many "pure" rock bands.) So I try not to say much about these things. Because, really, why? My blood pressure is fine. I'd like to keep it that way.